Yes, it's Packed with Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. But I Do Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No considering the time of year, it's perpetually hunting season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Critics, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have rarely been so united as when eagerly tearing the series' earlier episodes apart. The common opinion was that a more egregious regal scandal had never been witnessed than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back with a new offering with a "Holiday Celebration" (also known as a yuletide episode). Yet now, it's different. The familiar ingredients viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, overzealous entertaining – remain, but set of a Christmas special, the purpose becomes clear. The elements have slid perfectly; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
At this stage, Meghan resembles the oddball family member at most festive family gatherings – providing unasked-for guidance, and contributing the periodic peculiar declaration. ("I love spinach!" … "A tradition has to have a beginning." … "A tree is part of my memory and love of the holiday season.") She's a bit of a character, but her aura is known and strangely comforting. And she looks content; she's inflicting any harm.
She understands her all subtle gestures, word and glance will be dissected and judged, but nonetheless looks relaxed and too blessed to be stressed.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that clichéd phrase – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. The reason is, let's face it, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels delightful. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and extravagant – but doesn't that represent exactly what the holiday season is all about? And the words she speaks might be laughable, but the example she sets genuinely looks impeccably styled.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she executes with panache. Her recipes looks tasty, the festive decoration she makes is stunning, her gifts are almost too pretty to open. Not a single thing is mediocre or visually unappealing – even the way she fastens her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't bung a meal in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she creases wrapping paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be won over, bursting with festive joy and left with a powerful yearning for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where greens is arranged in the shape of a wreath?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, obviously, but even so, after the level of examination she has weathered since she started dating Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her refusal to change or even soften her persona, regardless of it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can depend on: Meghan will be like this, whatever happens. We will always know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a thought that will undoubtedly come as a comfort: you don't have to. The UK has abolished the draft these days, and were it to return, it would be doubtful to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are overcome with longing about her picture-perfect Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a duchess or a everyday person, no kid truly appreciates the time and energy their parent expends in the holiday season. So you can console yourself by picturing the young royals' faces when they unfold a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, instead of a candy.
